If you are in the real estate biz, you know the importance of marketing. But thanks to technology, North Carolina real estate marketing just got a lot easier. Use these tools to automate your real estate marketing to save time and add efficiency.
From social media strategy to basic communication methods, automating your real estate marketing is a great way to grow your business.
#1: Use text messaging for marketing
Almost everyone has a cell phone these days. Texting clients about potential properties is a convenient way to get the word out quickly. You can schedule messages for the future or for recurring messages.
The Good
- Texting is a quick way to reach people because most people are constantly on their phones.
- Open and click-through rates are very high. Research puts open rates of branded text messages as high as 98 percent.
- Texts have a more personal feel than many other forms of communication.
The Bad
- If you overuse this method of communication, it might annoy clients. People are more worried about spam now than ever so you need to develop a clear plan around how often you’ll text them.
- Generic texts are easy to spot, so make sure you personalize them.
- Texts might not be suitable if you have a long message because of the limited character count.
#2: Use an email drip campaign
With services like MailChimp or Emma, both of which offer templates and tips for your e-newsletter, you can communicate with clients regularly.
The Good
- They are more formal and businesslike than, say, texts.
- You can include more lengthy messages.
- You can embed images.
- You can A/B test new subject lines and embeds, helping you to fine-tune your marketing.
The Bad
- They don’t have a great open rate and sometimes go straight to the spam folder.
- They are somewhat impersonal.
- They can take longer to put together because they are usually longer and more complex.
#3: Use direct mail automation software
Creating a newsletter or postcard to send in the mail is a standard way of real estate marketing, and now you can set this up automatically. You can automate a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly newsletter or postcard using a service like Growmail or Postalytics. These services help you to digitize your direct mail so it’s easier to measure results, something that has not traditionally been available for direct mail.
The Good
- Nondigital communication stands out these days.
- You can humanize yourself with a picture that goes straight into your clients’ homes.
The Bad
- It is more expensive than digital communication.
- People might see it as junk mail, which could hurt your brand.
#4: Write blog posts
Build a website, schedule posts, and maximize SEO (search engine optimization) to reach clients in your area with platforms like WordPress. You may not be able to automatically create blog posts, but you can write them and schedule them so they post automatically.
The Good
- You can leverage your work by getting other companies to link to you.
- It gives you something to post on social media.
- You can position yourself as an expert.
- It provides a way for conversions when readers click through to a sales page.
The Bad
- If writing isn’t your thing, you can outsource this—but it can get expensive.
- It takes time to build traffic to your blog and website, so you won’t see results for a while.
#5: Use website chat rooms
Have you ever been on a website that has a window pop-up offering 24/7 chat assistance? This automated feature allows you to reach your audience quickly and efficiently to answer questions. Zendesk and Chatbot are examples of automated chat rooms that enhance the appeal of your website. After the chat with a bot, you can follow up personally with qualified leads.
The Good
- People are happy to get an instant answer to their questions.
- It’s pretty easy to set up.
- There is a feature that allows the bots to send pictures and links in addition to text.
The Bad
- It’s not useful for complex questions. If someone asks a really complicated question, your chatbot will probably recommend that they email you.
- You should have good traffic to your website to make this cost-effective.
#6: Use social media for marketing
Social media has changed the way businesses market their products and services, and this is true for those in real estate as well. Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin are among the most popular, and are conducive to featuring visual-heavy content. You can use services like Later (for Instagram) and Hubspot to automatically send your scheduled messages, which means you can upload messages once a week (or month) and have the service send these automated messages at intervals you decide.
The Good
- People are already on social media, so it just makes sense to reach out to them this way.
- It offers a way to connect with business associates and clients both and can help you build your brand.
The Bad
- It can be time-consuming to build a social medial following.
- You have to stay abreast of changes as far as social media best practices.
Save time on North Carolina real estate marketing tasks
Now that you have the tools to automate your real estate marketing, the systems you choose to use will do a lot of the work for you. Once business starts growing, you can pass these along to an assistant.
